Moisturizer Question

Katnip, RN · Mar 28, 2004

Movealong, I like the body butters too. I haven't bought them but a coworker brought hers in one day. I'll be trying that soon. Might keep my son calmer. Now that he's on the straight and narrow he thinks it's his duty to keep us all that way.

suzy253, RN · Mar 28, 2004

Aveeno does it for me. A dermatologist recommended this to me many years ago. It doesn't have any perfumes in it either which tend to irritate my hands even more. Facial moisturizer I use Neutrogena with SPF...for the same exact reason as the body moisturizer.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2004

At work, most of our nurses use Aveeno - any of their formulas are good. It really helps with the redness, irritation, and itchiness brought on by frequent scrubbing at work. The generic oatmeal-based lotions work okay, but they don't absorb as well as the Aveeno brand does. A little tip - buy from their baby line instead (comes in both unscented or yummy lavander&vanilla) because it's the same formulation, but half the price!!!

What we use on our patients is Aquaphor. It's basically petroleum, but with some extra stuff added in. It absorbs a little better than regular vaseline, and it's very gentle. We coat the preemies with it to provide a nice barrier since sometimes their skin is so thin. It's amazing stuff - sometimes the kids are so dehydrated from insensible water loss, and putting the Aquaphor on helps them stay more hydrated. It even works nicely to heal small cuts and scrapes.

Though we can't use it on ourselves at work because of the oil in it, many of us have tubes and jars of it at home and coat our hands before going to sleep. Excellent stuff to have in your medicine cabinet.

phyrenrain · Mar 28, 2004

When we have pts. w/dry, scaly, cracked skin, the docs will order Eucerin, and sometimes a mixture of Eucerin and Vaseline. I don't like the vaseline part of it simply because it's a petroleum based product. I see huge improvement w/BID use on pts.:wink2:

What do you suggest as a good moisturizer? Is glycerin a good moisturer or does it just dry out the skin in the end?
Thank you.

PedsNurse1981 · Mar 28, 2004

I recently discovered the Body Shop and their products are wonderful!!! They have multiple Body Butters for different skin types. For my hands, I use their Hemp product which has completely remedied the fact that my hands were so dry they would crack and bleed. I have tried practically every lotion and cream in the grocery store and none worked. The Body Shop has been a tremendous blessing to me. Try it, I'm sure you'll like it too.

http://www.thebodyshop.com

Amber

SnowymtnRN · Mar 28, 2004

Well my son has excema and dry skin, and our ped had us stop using Johnson and Johnson baby lotion cuz it was burning. Turns out it has a lot of alcohol in it. We started using Aveeno products, even the off brand aveeno lotion from walmart. Works VERY well. That and hydrocortisone cream. We also use the Aveen baby bath and shampoo wash and it works much better. For us, we've found Bath and Body Works new line of lotion called skin repair, its got shea butter and other things in it. Its AMAZING. its very thick like Eucerin, but much more spreadable. my fav is green tea w/cucumber and sweet pea. my DH even likes it and has a small jar in his bag for work.

INTEVA · Apr 5, 2004

I use cocoa butter lotion or anything with shea butter in it for my hands @ work. I get a lot of cuts on the tips of my thumbs especially during the winter months so I use neosporin ointment @ bedtime.

I found the one response about using lanolin based moisturizers interesting. I work in the anesthesia dept. & we just had a rep in trying to sell the hospital new gloves for OR use & I didn't hear anything about types of hand lotions to be used with gloves. I'll have to check that out when he stops by.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 5, 2004

Two of my kids have serious eczema. My son has it on his hand and it has even started deforming the nails. I've tried everything ever recommended for extreme dry skin and what works best for him is something called Badger's Healing Balm, made by W.S. Badger Co. Inc of Gilsum, NH. (http://www.badgerbalm.com) It's made with olive oil, beeswax, castor oil, aloe and oil of sweet birch. It has a mild pleasant scent. It goes on pretty greasy, but within a couple of minutes it's completely absorbed. His hand will go from cracked and peeling to smooth and soft in only three applications. At first I was putting Elocom on first then topping it with Healing Balm, but found that I could skip the steroid. And if he puts his fingers in his mouth, he's completely safe. :nurse:

RedSox33RN · Apr 6, 2004

Two of my kids have serious eczema. My son has it on his hand and it has even started deforming the nails. I've tried everything ever recommended for extreme dry skin and what works best for him is something called Badger's Healing Balm, made by W.S. Badger Co. Inc of Gilsum, NH. (http://www.badgerbalm.com) It's made with olive oil, beeswax, castor oil, aloe and oil of sweet birch. It has a mild pleasant scent. It goes on pretty greasy, but within a couple of minutes it's completely absorbed. His hand will go from cracked and peeling to smooth and soft in only three applications. At first I was putting Elocom on first then topping it with Healing Balm, but found that I could skip the steroid. And if he puts his fingers in his mouth, he's completely safe.

I live in NH, and love that stuff. It worked great on my kids when they were little. We have always had woodstoves, and it dries out your skin INCREDIBLY in the winter, no matter how many humidifiers you have running.

For my face, I fell in love with Lancome products. Hard on a mom's salary (read: $00,000.00/year! LOL), but I squeeze every darn drop out of every tube and bottle, and gladly accept samples!